This invention relates to devices for supporting and spacing cables, particularly for spacing and supporting cables of wiring harnesses adjacent to panel boxes.
It is desirable to keep spaces between electrical cables in buildings, particularly where numerous cables extend adjacent to each other, such as near panel boxes. Properly spacing the cables keeps heat from building up. This heat could cause insulation on the cables to melt.
Various devices have been developed in the past to try and keep cables running in an orderly, spaced-apart manner. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,230 to Bargsten discloses a cable duct where cables, are supported in a spaced-apart relationship. However the structure does not allow for easy removal or replacement of some cables without disturbing cables in adjacent rows of cables.
Another such device is disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT/DK 95/00360 which shows a mounting tray system for cables and the like. The cables are held in spaced-apart relationship within U-shaped depressions of a series of horizontal beams. However the beams are stacked in U-shaped frame wires in a manner such that lower rows of cables cannot be removed without disturbing cables in rows above.
Despite the prior art, accordingly, there still remains a need for a simple and inexpensive device for supporting and spacing cables, particularly near panel boxes, where cables can be arranged in spaced-apart positions in a plurality of rows and the innermost row can be removed without disturbing other rows of cables.
According to the invention, there is provided a cable support apparatus which includes a plurality of cable spacing members. Each member has a plurality of spaced-apart cable receiving openings for receiving a plurality of cables in spaced-apart relationship. There is a bracket having a plurality of cable spacing member openings, each of the cable spacing member openings being shaped to releasably receive one of the cable spacing members, whereby each of the cable spacing members can be removed from or replaced on the bracket without removing any other said cable spacing member.
Preferably the cable spacing members are elongated members and the cable spacing member openings are slots in the bracket for slidably receiving the cable spacing members.
Each of the cable receiving openings in each of the cable spacing members may be open ended to permit a cable to be positioned in the cable receiving opening or removed from the cable receiving opening. In one example, the cable receiving openings are U-shaped.
The invention offers significant advantages compared to earlier cable spacing devices. It allows cables in one layer to be removed without disturbing cables in other layers. Also devices according to the invention are simple and rugged in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and sell. They are also useful for other types of cables besides electrical cables, such as computer network cables and audio cables.